Carbon fibers derived from a sustainable source, a type of wild mushroom, and modified with nanoparticles have been shown to outperform conventional graphite electrodes for lithium-ion batteries.
Researchers at Purdue University have created electrodes from a species of wild fungus called Tyromyces fissilis.
"Current state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries must be improved in both energy density and power output in order to meet the future energy storage demand in electric vehicles and grid energy-storage technologies," said Vilas Pol, an associate professor in the School of Chemical Engineering and the School of Materials Engineering. "So there is a dire need to develop new anode materials with superior performance."
Batteries have two electrodes, called an anode and a cathode. The anodes in most of today's lithium-ion batteries are made of graphite. Lithium ions are contained in a liquid called an electrolyte, and these ions are stored in the anode during recharging.
Pol and doctoral student Jialiang Tang have found that carbon fibers derived from Tyromyces fissilis and modified by attaching cobalt oxide nanoparticles outperform conventional graphite in the anodes. The hybrid design has a synergistic result, Pol said.
"Both the carbon fibers and cobalt oxide particles are electrochemically active, so your capacity number goes higher because they both participate," he said.
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